Merz criticises former chancellor Schröder's Russia visit to celebrate Putin's birthday as "totally immoral"

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has sharply criticised former chancellor Gerhard Schröder for visiting Russian leader Vladimir Putin to celebrate Putin's birthday.

Source: European Pravda, citing ntv

Details: Steffen Meyer, First Deputy Spokesperson for the Federal Government, said in Berlin that Chancellor Merz is "deeply outraged" by the meeting.

Merz said "Putin alone" is responsible for the war in Ukraine and his orders cause "unspeakable suffering, civilian casualties, families torn apart, and deaths and injuries" every day.

Against this backdrop, the chancellor considers it "totally immoral" for Schröder to be celebrating with Putin.

Neither the Foreign Office, nor the German Embassy in Ukraine, nor the Federal Ministry of the Interior were informed of the visit in advance, the relevant ministries said.

Schröder had already been criticised by a number of German politicians.

Background:

• The Kremlin announced earlier that Russian leader Vladimir Putin had celebrated his 74th birthday in the company of former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder.
• Schröder was in Moscow on 7 October to visit a Globus hypermarket in Russia following his appointment to the supervisory board of Hyperglobus.

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